Thought I would post another update on my ongoing experiences with my Phonak Lumity L90 RT’s. If you have read through this very long discussion thread, you will know I was fitted with Lumity last October and I have no been wearing them continuously for 8 months.
I’m still very satisfied with these hearing aids. I guess I was lucky in that my audiologist did an incredible job fitting and adjusting these hearing aids. I have had zero adjustments since they were first fitted. In fact, I have had zero issues with these hearing aids and I still believe that these hearing aids (when fitted properly) are a step above anything any other hearing aids that I have tried. I know some people have grumbled about Autosense but in all honesty, the main differentiator between Lumity and other hearing aids (that I have tried) is Autosense 5.0. These hearing aids adapt so quickly and to changing sound environments and you almost never have to go into the myPhonak app to change programs. The only time that I seem to have issues is in a noisy restaurant that has either live or recorded music playing at the same time that you are having conversations at the table. Sometimes (not always), Autosense can’t decide whether you want to focus on speech or the music and the hearing aids switch back and forth between speech in loud noise and music mode. This is the only issue with Autosense so far but I suspect other brands of hearing aids would struggle with this situation too.
After 8 months in, I can honestly say my rechargeable batteries have never left me stranded (despite all the negative comments about rechargeable batteries). Heavy streaming days (5+ hours of streaming) do require me to pop the hearing aids into the charger for 20-30 minutes at some point in the day. I usually charge them when I am showering after a walk or workout and a quick 20 min charge is all it takes to get through the worst streaming day.
I’ve had ZERO issues with Bluetooth. I would even argue that the Bluetooth Classic connection on these hearing aids is way more reliable than what I experienced wearing Resound Quattro and Omnia with MFi. I personally believe the signal strength with Bluetooth Classic is a stronger signal and the net effect is that I have almost never had an issue with one or both hearing aids losing the connection to my iPhone or laptop, etc. This was an annoying and intermittent problem with Resound Quattro and I can’t tell you how annoying it was to lose the signal to one or more hearing aids during important business meetings. This doesn’t happen at all with Lumity. The real trick with Bluetooth on Lumity is to make sure you TURN OFF Bluetooth on devices when you are not streaming. As long as you never leave Bluetooth on for more than 2 devices, you won’t have issues.
Are these hearing aids perfect? No…but I will say that they provide me with a superior hearing experience and this is all that matters to me. Between work, volunteer work, a busy social life and heavy streaming (work and leisure), I am constantly moving in and out of very complex hearing environments and I really depend on these hearing aids to adapt quickly. My biggest (and only) complaint is rechargeable battery life. It works for me but it would be nice to have another 4-5 hours of battery capacity per day. This would get me through the worst streaming days without having to top up the batteries but after 8 months, I’ve had no issues living with the current 18 hours of battery life.
The only other comment I wanted to make relates to the myPhonak App. When I first got the hearing aids in October of last year, the myPhonak app was a bit buggy and did suffer from connection issues. These issues have been sorted out and the app now connects very reliably. Connection isn’t as fast as my previous MFi hearing aids but it works fine. That being said, I rarely use the app other than to occasionally monitor battery life a few times a day. I almost never use the app to change programs with Autosense 5.0 and I also have setup a battery widget on my iPhone’s home screen which shows the battery life in real time. Basically means there are days when I never need to use the app.
That’s my update. No…I don’t work for Phonak…I’m an exec at an IT services company and Lumity is my first Phonak product in quite some time (Audeo Q’s were the last time I had Phonak aids). And of course…these are phenomenal hearing aids for me based on my own hearing loss and personal experience. They may not work the same way for others.
Jordan